Faddell receives Apple stock options upon departure

Swaps unrestricted options for half as many restricted ones in the process.

Yesterday, we brought you news that Tony Fadell, SVP of the iPod Division at Apple, was "reducing his role" at the company to spend more time with his young family. Fadell, you may recall, was the man who designed the original iPod—he started as a contractor for the Cupertino company at the beginning of the decade. Fadell's wife, currently the VP of Human Resources at Apple, is also leaving the company at the end of the year.

Today the plot has thickened, thanks to Apple's recent 10-K filing. As tech gossip site Valleywag points out, Fadell will be receiving 77,500 shares of Apple's stock (current value approximately $8.5 million) if he agrees to a few stipulations. The first stipulation is that he continues to act as a "special advisor" to Apple. Fadell must also agree not to sue the company and to not recruit anyone away from the tech giant. In addition to the vast quantity of stock, he will continue to receive a $300,000 salary through the 24th of March, 2010.

The actual document (in all its legal mumbo-jumbo glory) is available online, and the portion regarding Fadell can be found in section 90 or by searching for 77,500. What the document tells us, however, is that it seems Fadell is forfeiting almost twice as much stock in the agreement:

The Transition Agreement also provides for the cancellation of outstanding and unvested 155,000 restricted stock units held by Mr. Fadell. Upon approval by the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors, Mr. Fadell will be granted 77,500 restricted stock units that will vest in full on March 24, 2010...

Regardless of why the compensation was worked out the way it was, chances are, we will never find out the real reasons behind Fadell's departure. If you have another take on the legalese, let us know.